mercredi 24 juin 2009

World first: Israeli flies to US with permanent artificial heart in his chest

A 71-year-old man with a permanent artificial heart pumping in his chest is reportedly the first in the world to take a trans-Atlantic flight and spend a vacation abroad. The Israeli, Gershon Gefen, underwent the implantation of the HeartMate 2 device at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva last year.

Only a handful of such implantations have been performed here so far. His pump was implanted by Dr. Eyal Porat, head of the cardiothoracic surgery department, and Dr. Binyamin Medallion of the heart-lung transplant unit. They were assisted by a German surgeon with special expertise in such implantation, who arrived for the procedure.

The recipient wanted to visit his daughter who lives in the US. He recovered well from his surgery and pleaded with insurance companies to allow him to fly. All turned him down. Ultimately, the Ayalon company agreed to give him health and flight insurance.Lire la suite »Anti-Boycott Israël blog : coeur artificielSource: article de Judy Siegel-Itzkovich @ JPost (Health and Sci-Tech)